Optical Tracking System Using Sticker Markers for Surgical Registration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current optical tracking systems for surgery face challenges in accurately tracking patients or surgical instruments due to difficulties in attaching markers, reduced accuracy and reliability, high costs, and the need for pre-surgery STAMP manufacturing, as well as limitations when patients move during procedures.
Innovation Solution
An optical tracking system utilizing a reference marker, sticker marker, shape measurement, and tracking sensor parts, which allows for the acquisition of coordinate transformation relationships to track patients or surgical instruments using three-dimensional images, enabling flexible registration and re-registration without the need for direct marker attachment to the patient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a marker is implanted in the bone or firmly attached to the patient for tracking, then tracking accuracy is improved, but patient discomfort and surgical complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a STAMP (Surface Template-Assisted Marker Position) as an intermediary device that is attached to the patient's skin surface rather than implanting markers in bone. The STAMP includes markers that can be tracked by the optical tracking system, serving as a mediator between the tracking system and the patient's anatomy, thereby maintaining tracking accuracy while avoiding the harmful effects of bone implantation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a surface template (STAMP) that copies or replicates the necessary marker positions on the skin surface, corresponding to the underlying bone structures. This allows the tracking system to track the STAMP markers instead of directly tracking implanted bone markers, achieving the same tracking purpose with less invasive attachment methods.
2Measurement precision
If a STAMP is manufactured before surgery for accurate tracking, then tracking precision is improved, but manufacturing cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The STAMP is prepared in advance with markers positioned according to pre-surgical planning based on CT or MRI images. The coordinate transformation relationships are calculated beforehand, allowing the tracking system to be set up more quickly during surgery without requiring time-consuming intraoperative marker placement or complex real-time calibration.
3Reliability
If the DRB is firmly attached to the patient for accurate tracking, then tracking reliability is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to patient movement which causes registration failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic registration system that can recalculate coordinate transformation relationships in real-time based on tracked positions of the STAMP and surgical instruments. This allows the system to adapt to patient movement by continuously updating the coordinate transformations, maintaining tracking reliability even when the patient moves during surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical tracking system continuously monitors the positions of markers on the STAMP and surgical instruments, providing real-time feedback to the control device. This feedback enables dynamic recalculation of coordinate transformation relationships, allowing the system to compensate for patient movement and maintain accurate tracking throughout the procedure.
4Measurement precision
If conventional marker attachment methods are used for registration, then registration accuracy is improved, but the difficulty of attachment and surgical complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The STAMP serves as an intermediary attachment device that simplifies the registration process. Instead of directly attaching markers to bone or performing complex bone drilling procedures, the STAMP can be attached to the skin surface using less invasive methods while still providing accurate marker positions for registration, thereby improving ease of operation while maintaining registration accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
An optical tracking system includes a reference marker part stationarily disposed relative to a first region; a sticker marker part attached in a sticker form to a second region capable of being rigidly registered with the first region; a shape measurement part measuring three-dimensional shapes of the first region and the second region; a tracking sensor part sensing the reference marker part and the shape measurement part; and a processing part acquiring a first coordinate transformation relationship among the reference marker part, the tracking sensor part, the shape measurement part, and the first region of the patent and a second coordinate transformation relationship among the reference marker part, the tracking sensor part, the shape measurement part, and the second region of the patient and tracking the first region by extracting a third coordinate transformation relationship between the first region and the second region.